Best Free Agent: Karlos Dansby

Luckily for the Bears, the free-agent market for inside linebackers has been slow to develop. Outside Dannell Ellerbe, most of the signings at the position have been depth adds or bargain buys.

Even better for the Bears, the Miami Dolphins cut their middle linebacker to make room for Ellerbe.

The 31-year-old Karlos Dansby had a career-high 134 tackles last year for the Dolphins, including over 100 solos. The 10th-year veteran graded out as a top-15 inside linebacker in 2012, according to Pro Football Focus.

He probably wouldn't come especially cheaply. However, while it may be heresy to say this, the 2013 Bears defense would be better with Karlos Dansby in the middle instead of Urlacher.

Best Way to Screw Things Up: Manti Te'o

Steel yourselves, Bears fans, because the amount of Manti Te'o-to-Chicago talk is about to become deafening.

With the Bears moving on from Urlacher, there is no doubt going to be a ton of speculation about how great Te'o could be as the heir apparent to Urlacher.

Hopefully the Bears don't buy into it, because it's a bad idea.

As productive as Te'o was in college (including all those interceptions) and for all his strengths, the simple fact is that Manti Te'o doesn't appear especially suited to being a three-down linebacker in the NFL.

The speed just isn't there, and his hips are too stiff. Instincts will only get you so far in coverage if the other guy just beats you.

Furthermore, as Te'o showed in the BCS National Championship Game, a tremendous amount of pressure is as likely to cause him to shrink as it is to make him explode.

Not that there would be any pressure involved in replacing Brain Urlacher in Chicago or anything.

Best Replacement in the Draft: Arthur Brown

If the Chicago Bears want to replace Brian Urlacher in the 2013 NFL draft, their best bet lies with hope.

As in, hoping that Kansas State linebacker Arthur Brown is available in the second round.

The 6'0" 241-pound Brown, who had 100 tackles for the Wildcats in 2012, is sturdy enough to hold up against the run, fleet enough of foot to hold his own in coverage and drew a comparison to NaVorro Bowman of the San Francisco 49ers in NFL.com's draft profile of him.